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Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency. Ethereum. These related buzzwords have been in just about every business publication lately, and it seems that everyone wants to learn more about blockchain, the decentralized ledger technology behind it all.

FAC members weigh in on the blockchain.Images courtesy of FAC members.

1. Brands Will Be Able To Better Target Consumers

Like many emerging technologies, it is very early to truly understand how blockchain will impact marketing. It has the ability to remove the middleman in digital advertising. However, that may take years to displace Google and Facebook, if ever. Because of blockchain's transparency, it will initially help brands build trust with consumers. - Lisa Allocca, Red Javelin Communications

2. Malicious Ads Will Grow

JavaScript-based cryptocurrency miners have already been found in the wild, wasting visitors' CPU power to send "coins" back to website owners. 2018 will see an explosion of this type of shady ad to top-tier sites, especially as "on by default" ad blockers become more popular. Website owners will be searching for new ways to monetize but must balance the ethical use of their visitors' resources. - Marc Hardgrove, The HOTH

3. Privacy Concerns Will Be Resolved And Advertiser Trust Will Increase

Giving users control over the amount of personal information they reveal appeases privacy concerns from the user perspective and promotes social responsibility from the advertiser's side. Studies routinely show that if you ask permission first, users are more than willing to give you personal information if there's a reward in turn. That reward is paying users directly to view ads. - Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

4. Decentralization Will Remove The Media Middlemen

Marketing and advertising startups in the blockchain space are already popping up. These aim to tokenize user behavior and offer a sort of credit system between advertisers and the consumer, which completely removes the massive middlemen managing big media. As we continue to decentralize our world, this is inevitable. Be smart. Move away from being a middleman. Be the source. - Trevor Chapman, Trevor Chapman Group

5. The Fraud Verification Industry Will Grow

Advertising online is complex when it comes to ensuring media is bought and delivered as intended. Blockchain will make this more transparent. I predict that fraud verification companies will, or have already begun, the blockchain process to evaluate how we can stop bots and fraudsters from stealing ad dollars from brands. Blockchain will allow us to verify who, how and where ads run. - Ashley Walters, Empower MediaMarketing

6. Delivery And Reporting Will Transform

The first marketing area affected last year by blockchain, even on a small scale, was video content delivery. That will extend beyond video to more content producers this year. They will love how they can control how their assets are delivered and ensure it's properly tracked. Then, once advertisers experience verified delivery and reporting, it will be required. - Todd Earwood, MoneyPath Marketing

7. Advertising Will Become More Transparent

Marketers love to publish case studies of their outliers that are getting amazing results. The gradual implementation of blockchain will provide transparency on marketing claims by every journey having the ability to be analyzed and validated. This will even lead to the ability to also negotiate contracts and accept terms based on those results. - Douglas Karr, DK New Media

8. Influencers Will Become Fewer In Number But Better In Quality

Influencer marketing campaigns are going to change dramatically. With blockchain, marketers will be able to see if the influencer's followers are true people or simply bots. Essentially, it will reduce the number of influencers but leave the top influencers at the top. - Loren Baker, Foundation Digital

9. Publishers Will Become More Accountable

Technologies like Ethereum make publishers more accountable as transactions become more transparent. Advertisers can see exactly where their traffic is going. Ad data is paramount — it’s shocking how much information we don’t have. Measuring impressions doesn’t cut it. Blockchain technology will unveil everything, decreasing fraud and increasing attribution. - Michael Weinhouse, Logical Position

10. It Will Solve Numerous Industry Issues

There are blockchain projects being created that might provide solutions around payment processing or fraud prevention within the ad exchange environment. Other areas of interest blockchain technology could solve for are measurement, invoice reconciliation and publisher/advertiser transactions. - Chad Recchia, Awlogy

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